Multi-stemmed shrub or small tree up to 5m. Bark pale grey to black, rough, deeply grooved; formless crown or with arching branches. Sharp spines, sometimes absent. Leaves in clusters, on short side branchlets, bright green to bluish-grey, paler beneath, smooth, margin slightly serrated, leaf stalk up to 10mm long. Flowers are small and white in dense, short clusters in leaf axils with an unpleasant scent. Fruit yellow turning pink, a 3-lobed capsule, small up to 10mm across, leathery, splitting on tree, the reddish-brown seeds partly covered by whitish-yellow aril.

Flowers attract flies and fruit is eaten by birds.

Wood hard, fine-grained, reddish-brown, used for household utensils.